White House advances drone and missile sales to Taiwan, sources say

WASHINGTON – The White House is moving forward with more sales of sophisticated military equipment to Taiwan and told Congress on Tuesday that it will seek to sell Taipei MQ-9 drones and a coastal defensive missile system, sources familiar with the situation said.

The potential sales follow three other notifications first reported by Reuters on Monday that drew ire from China as the United States prepares for the November 3 election.

One of the eight sources said that in total the sales were valued at around $ 5 billion. Quite often, figures for US foreign military sales include training costs, parts, and fees, making it difficult to determine values.

Reuters broke the news in September that as many as seven major weapons systems were making their way into the U.S. export process as the Trump administration increased pressure on China.

The pre-notification to Congress for the MQ-9 drones made by General Atomics is the first after President Donald Trump’s administration moved forward with its plan to sell more drones to more countries by reinterpreting an international arms control agreement called the Regime of Control. Missile Technology (MTCR).

The other pre-congressional notification on Tuesday was for land-based Harpoon anti-ship missiles, made by Boeing Co, to serve as coastal defense cruise missiles. One of the sources said that the roughly 100 cruise missiles that were reported to the Capitol would cost about $ 2 billion.

Representatives for the US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A source in the Taiwanese government acknowledged that “Taiwan has five weapons systems that are moving forward in the process.”

The Foreign Relations committees of the US Senate and House of Representatives have the right to review and block arms sales through an informal review process before the State Department sends its formal notification to the legislature.

The committee leaders were notified that the planned arms sales had been approved by the US State Department, which oversees military sales abroad, said the sources, who are familiar with the situation but did not want to be identified. .

Reuters reported Monday that informal notifications had already been sent to Congress for a truck-based rocket launcher made by Lockheed Martin Corp called the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), long-range air-to-ground missiles made by Boeing called SLAMs. -ER and external sensor modules for F-16 aircraft that allow real-time transmission of images and data from the aircraft to ground stations.

When asked about Tuesday’s congressional notice stretch, the Chinese Embassy in Washington referred to an overnight statement from China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian.

Zhao said that US arms sales to Taiwan seriously damaged China’s sovereignty and security interests. He urged Washington to clearly acknowledge the damage they caused and immediately cancel them, adding: “China will give a legitimate and necessary response according to how the situation develops.”

China regards Taiwan as a wayward province that has promised to rejoin the mainland, by force if necessary, but Washington regards it as a major democratic outpost and is required by law to provide it with the means to defend itself.

In August, a Taiwanese official said the island was discussing the possibility of acquiring capabilities, including “underwater sea mines and other capabilities to deter amphibious landing or immediate attack.”

The Taiwanese source said that Taiwan was not seeking to acquire US marine mines.

People familiar with the talks with Taiwan have said that technology transfer to Taipei for domestic production of various weapons capabilities has been discussed.

Washington has been eager to see Taiwan beef up its defensive capabilities in the face of increasingly aggressive Chinese moves toward the island.

Speaking last week, US national security adviser Robert O’Brien said that Taiwan needed to become a porcupine to make clear to China the risks of attempting an invasion.

He said Taiwan needed to invest in capabilities that include more coastal defense cruise missiles, naval mines, rapid attack craft, mobile artillery and advanced surveillance assets. (Information from Mike Stone, Patricia Zengerle, and David Brunnstrom in Washington Additional information by Matt Spetalnick in Washington Editing by Matthew Lewis)